The Masks
"The Masks" is an episode of the The Twilight Zone. Episode Details Opening Narration "Mister Jason Foster, a tired ancient who on this particular Mardi Gras evening will leave the Earth. But before departing, he has some things to do, some services to perform, some debts to pay and some justice to mete out. This is New Orleans, Mardi Gras time. It’s also the Twilight Zone." Episode Summary Jason Foster, a very wealthy old man, is dying. Cranky and candid, Jason is not cheered by a visit from his daughter Emily and her family—husband Wilfred, son Wilfred, Jr., and daughter Paula. All four have various, terrible traits. Emily is a cowardly, self-centered hypochondriac who whines and complains about the most trivial things. Wilfred, a successful businessman, is introverted and greedy, thinking of everything in monetary terms. Paula is extremely vain, constantly checking her appearance in the mirror; in fact, she is looking in one when she greets her grandfather. Wilfred Jr., meanwhile, is an oafish, sadistic bully who enjoys causing pain and suffering to other people and animals. Moreover, it is clear that they are only there in order to claim Jason's fortune once he dies. Jason is not shy about his opinions of his family and openly insults each of them. In an act of apology, he says he has a special Mardi Gras party planned for the little group that night. After dinner, the family gathers in Jason's study, where he offers them special, one-of-a-kind masks. These masks, which he said are "crafted by an old Cajun", are very ugly creations. Jason informs his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren that a Mardi Gras custom is to wear masks that are the exact opposite of a person's true personality. Thereupon, he says sarcastically that these masks are just that—and offers the mask of a sniveling coward to Emily, a miserable miser to Wilfred, a twisted buffoon to Wilfred Jr., and a self-obsessed narcissist to Paula. He himself dons a skull, claiming that the opposite of life is death. The family is reluctant to wear the ugly masks—until Jason quotes his demands as a proviso from his will; unless all four of them don the masks and leave them on until midnight, all they will receive from his vast estate is train fare home to Boston. So the foursome comply, in spite of their disgust. As the hours tick by, all four beg to be allowed to take off the masks...claiming that they are worse than uncomfortable; they are unbearable. Yet their pleas are wasted on Jason, who delivers his final tirade to his family as he dies; he explains that even "without their masks, they're caricatures!" He then dies. The foursome rejoices in the fact that they are now rich—until they remove their disguises and find, to their horror, that their faces have conformed to the hideous shapes of the masks. When Jason's mask is removed, it appears as if nothing has changed, but his face is actually the expression of death itself- calm, peaceful, and serene. As Dr. Sam Thorne observes, "This must be death. No horror, no fear...nothing but peace." As the episode ends, the butler, Jeffrey, looks upon the relatives' ugly faces. Closing Narration "Mardi Gras incident. The dramatis personae being four people who came to celebrate and, in a sense, let themselves go. This they did with a vengeance. They now wear the faces of all that was inside them and they’ll wear them for the rest of their lives. Said lives now to be spent in shadow. Tonight’s tale of men, the macabre and masks on The Twilight Zone." Preview for Next Week's Story Next time out on The Twilight Zone, we do a probe in depth into a current cancer known as hatred and we tell you the story of a little mid-western village which wakes up on a violent morning to discover that there is no morning. No light, no sun. Only a frightening and pervading darkness. It stars Michael Constantine and Paul Fix, and it's called, "I Am the Night—Color Me Black". Response Often thought of as one of the finest episodes. Production Companies *Cayuga Productions *Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (in association with) Distributors *Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1959) (USA) (TV) (original airing) Trivia * Director Ida Lupino previously appeared onscreen in the episode The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine. Memorable Quotes External Links *http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734659/